Researchers Develop Chip That Could be Powered by Body Heat
By: Shane McGlaun
Back in February a group of researchers from MIT and Texas Instruments designed a new chip for portable devices that uses a mere fraction of the power required in similar chips today. The researchers were able to design a chip that may be up to ten times as energy efficient as current technology.
Current chips operate at about 1 volt and the new design from the MIT researchers operates on 0.3 volts. Anantha Chadrakasan, Professor of Electrical Engineering told MIT Energy Initiative, “Memory and logic circuits have to be redesigned to operate at very low power supply voltages. Chadrakasan directs the MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories, where the work was conducted.
Simply reducing the voltage required for the chip to operate wasn’t the only trick the researchers used to get energy savings for the chip. The researchers also optimized the energy processing circuitry to account for several factors including environmental conditions and variations in circuit demands.
One key to the efficient nature of the new chip design according to Chadrakasan says was a high-efficiency
Lower voltage levels mean that differences in variations and imperfections in the chip building process are magnified and become a problem. Chadrakasan says that commercial applications for the new chip could be seen in five years or sooner. The researchers are also looking at applications for the low voltage chip other than in electronics.
Since the chip can operate on such low power requirements, the researchers also believe it could be used in implantable devices like pacemakers. In this application the chip would be able to get all the power it needs from body heat or the movement of the person with the implant. This would allow implantable devices to be powered indefinitely.
One of the main reasons cited for the lack of encryption on telemetry data sent from pacemakers and internal defibrillators is the added strain encryption would put on the battery inside the devices. A low power chip that gets all the power it needs from the body may be just what is needed to allow stronger security in implanted medical devices.
These researchers aren’t alone in their quest for lower voltage, less power hungry chips and processors. Intel recently introduced its Atom processor which is a full x86 processor and requires only 0.6W of power. The Atom processor still consumes more power than the 0.3V design from MIT.
Intel's 2 Billion Transistors CPU Gets Pictured, Details
The chip features a huge, 30 MB cache pool
By: Bogdan Botezatu
Intel's 2 billion transistors Itanium processor, also known as Tukwila, managed to stir up some attention lately, as it's not every day you see a chip packing such amount of transistors. Tukwila is a quad-core part built on the 65-nanometer process node that comes with a huge amount of cache memory.
Earlier this week, during the pre-IDF briefing, Pat Gelsinger, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group, spilled some details about the upcoming chip, that is alleged to deliver twice the performance of the dual-core Montvale (the 9100 series Itanium).
Another novelty in the processor's design is the use of the new QuickPath Interconnect (QPI), and dual integrated memory controllers. The new performance achievements will also shift the processors' market, and Gelsinger claimed that, despite the fact that system integrators such as SGI, Hewlett-Packard and NEC are currently using Intel's Itanium series of chips for traditional high-power computing purposes, the new chip will be targeted at mission-critical applications in the future.
The processor's thermal design power is rated at 170 watts, yet Intel announced another stock keeping unit, that will come in a smaller thermal envelope of "only" 130 watts. Given the fact that the Tukiwlla is built on the previous-generation, 65-nanometer process node and packs two billion transistors on the same die, its thermal performance is still acceptable.
Intel announced that the Tukwila chip will show up on the market in the last quarter of the year.
Source: Softpedia
Britain makes camera that 'sees' under clothes
By Reuters The T5000 camera, created by a company called ThruVision, uses what it calls "passive imaging technology" to identify objects by the natural electromagnetic rays--known as Terahertz or T-rays--that they emit. The high-powered camera can detect hidden objects from up to 80 feet away and is effective even when people are moving. It does not reveal physical body details and the screening is harmless, the company says. The technology, which has military and civilian applications and could be used in crowded airports, shopping malls or sporting events, will be unveiled at a scientific development exhibition sponsored by Britain's Home Office on Wednesday and Thursday. "Acts of terrorism have shaken the world in recent years and security precautions have been tightened globally," said Clive Beattie, the chief executive of ThruVision. "The ability to see both metallic and nonmetallic items on people out to 25 meters is certainly a key capability that will enhance any comprehensive security system." While the technology may enhance detection, it may also increase concerns that Britain is becoming a surveillance society, with hundreds of thousands of closed-circuit television cameras already monitoring people countrywide every day. ThruVision came up with the technology for the T5000 in collaboration with the European Space Agency and from studying research by astronomers into dying stars. The technology works on the basis that all people and objects emit low levels of electromagnetic radiation. Terahertz rays lie somewhere between infrared and microwaves on the electromagnetic spectrum and travel through clouds and walls. Depending on the material, the signature of the wave is different, so that explosives can be distinguished from a block of clay and cocaine is different from a bag of flour. Source: CNETLONDON--A British company has developed a camera that can detect weapons, drugs or explosives hidden under people's clothes from up to 25 meters away in what could be a breakthrough for the security industry.
Google: We didn't help the NSA (or did we?)
Posted by Chris Soghoian
Google is now the first of the major search engines and e-mail providers to make a firm statement on the issue of the National Security Agency's wholesale surveillance of Internet content.
Google has stated it didn't help the NSA search your e-mails. More specifically the company denies participating in the NSA's Terrorist Surveillance Program. But the company's carefully worded denial might not be enough to reassure savvy readers.
The Wall Street Journal recently revealed the true extent of the NSA's surveillance system:
"According to current and former intelligence officials, the spy agency now monitors huge volumes of records of domestic e-mails and Internet searches."
This builds on what we learned the previous week, when The Washington Post revealed that the primary motivation for the White House's wiretapping immunity demands is to protect those firms that assisted with illegal, mass-scale surveillance of e-mail traffic.
Google has now taken the interesting step to become the first major Internet company to deny helping the NSA. In an on-the-record e-mail with a company spokesperson on Friday, I was told that:
"Google was not part of the NSA's Terrorist Surveillance Program."
Is that enough to reassure you?
If Google was obligated to give up search/e-mail records, it is likely that this request would be made via a Patriot Act authorized National Security Letter. A recent Journalarticle confirmed as much, stating that the information gained from National Security letters ended up in the gigantic NSA databases. But recipients of those letters may not be allowed to tell anyone about it, and may in fact be forced to lie.
The owner of an ISP who received one of these secret orders explained the significant restrictions placed upon him in a letter to The Washington Post back in 2007.
Under the threat of criminal prosecution, I must hide all aspects of my involvement in the case--including the mere fact that I received an NSL--from my colleagues, my family and my friends. When I meet with my attorneys I cannot tell my girlfriend where I am going or where I have been. I hide any papers related to the case in a place where she will not look. When clients and friends ask me whether I am the one challenging the constitutionality of the NSL statute, I have no choice but to look them in the eye and lie.
If this poor gentleman had to lie to his girlfriend and family, it's possible that Google, if it did receive a FBI National Security Letter, might be placed in a similar position.
Careful wording
My original question to Google was, "Is Google sharing 'huge volumes' of search records with the government?" I never asked about the NSA's Terrorist Surveillance Program specifically.
As Salon's Glenn Greenwald has explained, the Bush administration has been very careful with its use of the term "Terrorist Surveillance Program." Many snooping activities, some of which were clearly illegal, do not come under this definition. Simply put, Google could have handed over a copy of every search request and every e-mail sent by a Gmail user to the U.S. government and it would still be able to quite correctly deny participating in the Terrorist Surveillance Program.
In any case, on January 17, 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that the Terrorist Surveillance Program would not be reauthorized by the president, but would be subjected to quasi-judicial oversight. So the Terrorist Surveillance Program, at least by that name, no longer exists, and Google could be actively handing over millions of e-mails, while the statement made by its PR people would be completely true.
Continued concerns
What if Google's PR people are telling the truth? What if Google really didn't help the NSA, and that the spooks are collecting millions of search records via wiretaps placed on the Internet backbone?
It's worth pointing out that Google has stood up to the feds when they demanded search records a couple years back--but this was the DOJ, not the NSA.
The problem remains that Google is not doing a single thing to protect its customers from this kind of large-scale surveillance. While the company supports SSL-encrypted Webmail sessions, it does little to advertise it, and has taken no steps to turn it on by default.
However, the biggest problem is search. Google offers no way for its customers to search the Internet without an evil ISP (such as AT&T) from snooping in on the traffic. Google could very easily enable SSL search sessions, but has not taken any steps to do so.
When asked about the webmail security problem, and which steps customers should take to protect their search traffic from snooping Internet service providers, Google's spokesperson directed me to the company's much ridiculed YouTube Privacy channel.
I spent a few minutes browsing through the channel, but couldn't find any specific advice on protecting myself from illegal wiretaps and government surveillance. YouTube seems to be a great place to find videos of skateboarding dogs, but not such a great source of privacy tips.
For those of you who care more about your privacy than cute YouTube videos, I highly recommend the Tor anonymous web proxy, as well as the Customize Google Firefox browser extension.
Source: CNET
Nokia Unveils 'Morph' Concept Mobile Phone
By: Cosmin Vasile, Communications News Editor
Nokia Research Center and the University of Cambridge unveiled today – Morph, a joint nanotechnology concept. The newly developed concept was launched recently alongside the "Design and the Elastic Mind" exhibition, on view from February 24 to May 12, 2008, at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes. It demonstrates the ultimate
functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces.
Dr. Bob Iannucci, Chief Technology Officer, Nokia, commented: "Nokia Research Center is looking at ways to reinvent the form and function of mobile devices; the Morph concept shows what might be possible".
Dr. Tapani Ryhanen, Head of the NRC Cambridge UK laboratory, Nokia, commented: "We hope that this combination of art and science will showcase the potential of nanoscience to a wider audience. The research we are carrying out is fundamental to this as we seek a safe and controlled way to develop and use new materials."
Professor Mark Welland, Head of the Department of Engineering's Nanoscience Group at the University of Cambridge and University Director of Nokia-Cambridge collaboration added: "Developing the Morph concept with Nokia has provided us with a focus that is both artistically inspirational but, more importantly, sets the technology agenda for our joint nanoscience research that will stimulate our future work together."
The partnership between Nokia and the University of Cambridge was announced in March, 2007 - an agreement to work together on an extensive and long term programme of joint research projects. NRC has established a research facility at the University's West Cambridge site and collaborates with several departments - initially the Nanoscience Center and Electrical Division of the Engineering Department - on projects that, to begin with, are centered on nanotechnology.
Elements of Morph might be available to integrate into handheld devices within 7 years, though initially only at the high-end. However, nanotechnology may one day lead to low cost manufacturing solutions, and offers the possibility of integrating complex functionality at a low price.
Source: Softpedia
See: Nokia Morph Video
iPhone Buyout Offer in Germany
By: Victor Mihailescu
It was widely expected that the introduction of an official unlocked iPhone, due to European laws, would have a big impact on the dynamics of the market, but despite the unlocking coming earlier than expected, the big boom has only just arrived.
German mobile virtual network operator Debitel has announced that it will be offering a 600 Euro rebate to
people who buy an unlocked iPhone from T-Mobile Germany but sign a contract with them instead. Considering that T-Mobile sells the locked iPhone for 399 Euro, this rebate effectively eliminates the cost of getting an unlocked iPhone, and gives users the freedom to use it on the carrier that better suits their needs.
Considering that Debitel sells airtime it buys from T-Mobile and rivals Vodafone, O2, and E-Plus in Germany, users will be able to use whatever carrier they prefer. "We are happy to offer iPhone buyers the freedom of choice that customers are entitled to expect from a service provider," said Oliver Steil, Debitel's marketing chief.
In one swift move, Debitel has essentially eliminated any advantage T-Mobile might have had because of their partnership with Apple, and the company has no qualms with paying the difference as long as it gets them new subscribers. The company will start offering contracts starting at 40 Euro a month for 200 minutes, cheaper than T-Mobile’s base offering of 49 Euro for only half the minutes. Customers that opt for using the Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 networks will – of course – not benefit from Visual Voicemail, but all other features of the iPhone will function properly.
What is amazing about Debitel is not only the offer they are coming out with, but the frankness with which they are doing it. They are clearly offering to buy you out of the T-Mobile contract, and not sugar coating it in any way. This could be a seriously nasty development for Apple, as Debitel won’t be sharing any revenue with them, and they stand to lose a lot of potential customers who prefer the more competitive service plans or network coverage. It will also be interesting to see if this move is mirrored in France, where it could be even more popular if the unlocked version of the iPhone will indeed sell for "significantly less" than in Germany.
Source: Softpedia
Amazing! Exciting Hidden Game in Google Earth! Flight Simulator
Fly over your favorite location
By: Bogdan Popa
When Google released the 4.2 version of Google Earth, the fans from all around the world were absolutely
amazed by the Sky function which brings a new perspective for the available imagery. As you probably
heard, Google Sky allows you to analyze the starts and the galaxies straight from your computer. Soon after that, it was discovered that Google offers many more hidden functions through the downloadable mapping tool but it never mentioned them. For example, the search giant updated the placemarks icons, replacing the old ones with newer and more attractive imagery.
But, there is something that you would never expect to see in Google Earth: the Mountain View company implements a flight simulator, an exciting game that allows you to fly over your favorite location and enjoy the collection of photos offered by the application. All you need to do is press open Google Earth and press Ctrl + Alt + A if you're a Windows user or Cmd + Option + A if you have a Mac. Instantly, a pop-up that allows you to choose from two aircraft should be opened. As you can see by yourself, you can fly using an F16 airplane or a SR22, "a high-performance four-seat propeller airplane," as the description states.
Then, you're required to choose your start position: your current view, your last position in flight simulator (supposing that you used the function before) or you can take off straight from an airport. In addition, you can control the airplane with a joystick in order to become a better pilot.
What's most interesting is that Google Flight Simulator was actually a hidden function but, once you discover and run it for the first time, it will be included in the 'Tools' menu of Google Earth.
This is it for now, have a nice flight without nausea or headaches. For a complete list of shortcuts for the game, visit this website.
Source: Softpedia
Ubuntu Mobile
Introducing Ubuntu Mobile - full Internet, no compromise
Ubuntu Mobile is an Ubuntu edition that targets an exciting new class of computers called Mobile Internet Devices.
Ubuntu Mobile, based on the world's most popular Linux distribution, and MID hardware from OEMs and ODMs, are redefining what can be done in mobile computing.
Ubuntu Mobile, a fully open source project, gives full Internet, with no compromise. Custom options may include licensed codecs and popular third-party applications.
Full Web 2.0/AJAX fidelity, with custom options of Adobe Flash®, Java, and more
Outstanding media playback so you can enjoy videos, music and photos with superior quality and easy navigation
A suite of applications that work seamlessly to meet every need of a digital parent, student or anyone who is on-the-go
Facebook®, MySpace®, YouTube®, Dailymotion®, 3D games, GPS, maps, in short, the full Web 2.0 experience delivered into your hands as a compact and powerful device that's easy and fun to use
The product of Canonical collaboration with Intel® and the open source community, Ubuntu Mobile is the software that makes it all possible.
Just the right stuff
Ubuntu Mobile just works, and it works just right.
Just the right applications provide an uncompromised Web 2.0 experience: Web browsing, email, media, camera, VoIP, instant messaging, GPS, blogging, digital TV, games, contacts, dates/calendar, simple software updates... and lots more.
All unnecessary complexity in the user experience is eliminated.
Finger friendly, touch driven
Ubuntu Mobile is finger friendly, with no stylus needed. You drive Ubuntu Mobile with touch. Simply tap the screen or drag a finger to make gestures for intuitive navigation and control.
Tap an application with your finger to launch it, and tap menus and buttons to use them.
Swipe a web page to pan up, down or sideways.
Swipe a video, photo, song or thumbnail page to move to the next or the previous one.
Leveraging the MID
MIDs typically have the following features and attributes:
Small size/form factor
4 to 7 inch touch screen
Physical and/or virtual keyboard
Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, GPS, WiMAX
2GB to 8GB Flash or disk storage, 256MB+ memory/512MB+ recommended
OpenGL 3D
USB, camera, head phone jack, speakers, microphone
Customizable
Ubuntu Mobile is highly flexible and customizable. It is an ideal platform for the kind of product differentiation that reaches target users and penetrates key markets.
User interface in HTML, Flash, Clutter, Python with GTK, C/C++ with GTK and Java
Different application sets for different products or configurations
Integration with popular Web 2.0 sites
Internationalization and translation support to meet market requirements
Custom sets of licensed media codecs and third-party proprietary software for commercial partners
Custom engineering
OEMs, ODMs, operators and developers can customize Ubuntu Mobile to their desired look and feel and offer just the right capabilities to meet their specific requirements. Canonical can assist through its Custom Engineering program.
For information about Canonical custom engineering services, email mobile@canonical.com.
Community
The Ubuntu Mobile community includes many individuals and organizations and always welcomes new participants and partners.
Places to get started:
For information about Ubuntu Mobile, see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/MobileAndEmbedded
For information about Intel's MID Linux Moblin project, see http://moblin.org
More information
For more information about Ubuntu Mobile, download the datasheet.
Source: Ubuntu
Google to Launch Its Operating System Next Week
By: Bogdan Popa, Security and Search Engines Editor
A while ago, the Internet world talked about a potential GooglePhone, especially created to fight with the Apple iPhone. At that time, the Mountain View company avoided commenting on the speculation; the only thing mentioned was that Google will remain a software firm and not a hardware one. So no GooglePhone; but in the meantime, the search giant released several new mobile flavors of its products. Take the example of Gmail, Google Search, YouTube, Google Calendar. Now, what do you understand from this: Google remains a software company, but it develops mobile versions of its products? That's right, Google wants to conquer the mobile software industry but how else can you do it if not through a mobile operating system?
The most recent rumors sustain that the Mountain View company prepares a mobile operating system that is scheduled to be released very soon, maybe sometimes next week. The folks from Engadget claim that it might be entirely based on a Linux platform, because several Googlers are quite experienced in this domain. "At Google, Andy's team has developed a Linux-based mobile device OS (no surprise) which they're currently shopping around to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, customizable system -- with really great Google integration, of course," Ryan Block from Engadget wrote.
Obviously, the entire operating system would be bundled with Google's technologies such as search, YouTube or Gmail. Actually, I think it would probably contain all sorts of shortcuts to allow the handheld owner to access the Google services in a matter of seconds if an Internet connection is available.
But the main question is: which mobile companies will implement the operating system into their devices? As you might know, Google signed deals with some famous phone producers such as Samsung, but there is no evidence that the Mountain View company might bring the OS on their devices. In fact, the entire operating system might be only pure speculation
Source: Softpedia
Computer Intelligence Will Outpace the Human Brain By 2030
By: Bogdan Botezatu
The computers will become more intelligent than the human beings within the next 20 years, if the computer industry keeps up with the actual progress. Scientific futurologists claim that the next 50 years will bring 32 times more technical progress than the entire 20th century.
One of the most important achievements of the next 20 years will be artificial intelligence that will reach the human capacities. American computer guru Ray Kurzweil claims that the machines will rapidly become more intelligent than humans. The apocalyptic scenarios are out of discussion, and Dr. Kurzweil claims that their intelligence will be put to work in order to solve some of the most challenging problems of the 21st century.
Kurzweil is one of the computing pioneers that could be called a technology prophet. He is deeply related to multiple fields of computing, such as optical character recognition, optical storage and automatic speech recognition. The future he described is made of machines that are able to learn how to communicate, teach and replicate among themselves.
"The paradigm shift rate is now doubling every decade, so the next half century will see 32 times more technical progress than the last half century. Computation, communication, biological technologies – for example, DNA sequencing – brain scanning, knowledge of the human brain, and human knowledge in general are all accelerating at an ever-faster pace, generally doubling price-performance, capacity and bandwidth every year," Kurzweil claimed.
While modern computing is based on two-dimensional chips built out of silicon. However, researcher are looking for viable alternatives that would allow them to achieve chips using biological molecules, as they are able to get miniaturized way beyond the metal-based processors.
"Three-dimensional, molecular computing will provide the hardware for human-level 'strong artificial intelligence' by the 2020s. The more important software insights will be gained in part from the reverse engineering of the human brain, a process well under way. Already, two dozen regions of the human brain have been modelled and simulated," he said.
It is true that the human brain cannot be compared to a, say, storage server, because it can not match the machine in memory speed and capacity, but it has the unique abilities of associating and interconnected pieces of information, to perform estimations and plan.
"Once non-biological intelligence matches the range and subtlety of human intelligence, it will necessarily soar past it because of the continuing acceleration of information-based technologies, as well as the ability of machines to instantly share their knowledge," Dr Kurzweil said.
Source: Softpedia
AMD Starts Shipping Its Tri-Core Toliman Processors
By: Bogdan Botezatu
AMD has just started shipping its latest processor offering, comprised of triple-core Phenom processors, also known as Tolimans. At the moment, the chip manufacturer is only shipping the chips to OEM vendors and system integrators, but they are not available through AMD's retail channels yet.
The chips are 65-nanometer processors that will power AM2+ motherboards supporting HyperTransport 3. They will be included in the Phenom X3 product family, comprised of quad-core chips that come with one of the cores disabled.
The chips are alleged to come with 2MB of L3 cache, but the chip manufacturer declined to offer further details about the processors' technical specifications. However, top-tier PC vendors including Dell and Hewlett-Packard have already announced tri-core Phenom-powered computing systems.
For instance, Dell has listed the technical specifications of its OptiPlex 740 business desktop systems, that will come with a tri-core CPU featuring 1.5 MB of L2 cache and 2MB of shared L3 cache. Dell's tri-core update to the OptiPlex 740 family will start shipping during the second quarter of the year.
Hewlett-Packard is currently working on a desktop system powered by the Phenom 8600B tri-core processor that is alleged to reach core frequencies of 2.3 GHz. The 8600B chip will also feature 1.5 MB of L2 cache and 2MB of shared L3 cache.
UK-based PC vendor Mesh Computer has already unveiled its tri-core CPU-powered desktop systems. Both the Matrix XXX Plus and the Matrix XXX Pro computer models are built around the same AMD's Phenom 8600 tri-core processor.
Advanced Micro devices is touting its new tri-core offering as being a better choice than dual-core chips, as the third core will bring additional horsepower in performing mundane, yet CPU cycles-consuming tasks, such as antivirus scanning. However, there are a few problems that need AMD's attention. First of all, the tri-cores will be built on the already buggy B2 silicon stepping, that will require a BIOS patch in order to work normally. This means that the chip will lose 15 percent of its computing power to ensure its stability.
Previous rumors claim that the three-core processors will be available to OEM vendors only, so it's going to be a long time until you see boxed versions of the Phenom 8400 running at 2.3GHz and the 8600 running at 2.3 GHz.
Source: Softpedia
Microsoft Windows Mobile 7.0 Preview or Simple Mockup
By: Cosmin Vasile, Communications News Editor
This article is based on a leaked concept, posted by Natahan Weinberg on blognewschannel, although we're not sure if it's a fake or Microsoft's future Windows Mobile 7 will actually include at least some of the features described below. With the iPhone seriously taking the lead on the mobile market, Microsoft intends to 'clone' all Apple's new techs included in their handset, then improve it and add even more of these. That's no news as both companies, Apple and Microsoft, 'borrowed' some of their innovations from one another. How much utility and functionality will bring the new Windows Mobile 7.0, and how fast and stable will it be? These questions will get their answers no later than the next year (2009), when Microsoft intends to launch the 7th sequel of its operating system. Unfortunately, the upcoming version 6.1 that will be officially launched next month is almost an updated version of the 6.0, thus it doesn't come up with any real changes.
Anyway, what's Windows Mobile 7.0 after all? Nothing short to an entirely new reshaped operating system that will blow you mind the moment you start using it. At least, that's what Microsoft intends to do with this new OS that will totally change the way we are using our mobile devices (less iPhone users?:). WM 7 will strongly focus on touch and motion gestures, but to a degree that will not leave too many things to add, keeping it to a certain level of simplicity, just like Apple did with iPhone's interface. How much they will succeed remains to be seen the moment we have something official and not some photoshop-ed screenshots (even if made by Microsoft's designers).
It seems that one of the goals of the "mockup" OS is to support devices that doesn't feature touchscreen and stylus, but also those that feature both or those that are touchscreen dedicated (referred as 'iPhone compete':). The new user interface won't be optional for old applications, but rather the applications will get support for the new interface. There's also a promising "game mode", that will make games 'miss' UI requirements and use similar movements for different actions, thus allowing user to control the game much easier than a standard application.
Microsoft took it to the next level and intends to make a research that has the size of the 'average fingertip' as subject, just to make touchscreen devices without a stylus more easy to control. That way users will be able to scroll up and down with no fear of doing something else. Tap drills down in a list, but some lists will have you tab once to select, once again to drill down the list. Scrollbars, corner elements, icons, title bar and status bar will all be stylized and resized, so it will be easier to tap on them. It seems that, in Windows Mobile 7, scrollbars will rather float as transparent visual elements on top of any application, rather than being part of the screen. They will only be used when necessary.
Furthermore, there will be gestures for scrolling, task and menu access, press and hold controls, list items, press and drag, and launching shortcuts. The device will be able to detect finger velocity, scrolling further if the user’s finger moves faster. Even more motion gestures will be included like those codenamed Pivot and Spinner. In a Spinner, you have a single item with left and right buttons next to it, but instead of hitting the left and right buttons, you can just swipe to change the option. The device will also 'clone' the locking feature of the iPhone with slider control. The same motion gestures will be able to start various applications or simply execute a wide range of commands, depending on the number of "shakes", the track of the movement or simply by the duration of the motion. Some of these commands include: changing a song into the media player or the change of a picture in a slideshow (from left to right or vice versa). You can zoom in or zoom out a picture when in full-screen, by simply moving the device forward or backward.
There are also different motion gestures that are meant to wake up the device. How can that be possible? The new user interface will be able to recognize a specific gesture, which should be kept very simple and very easy to identify, that will wake up your phone from the 'slumber'. The difference stands in the actual transition from the sleep mode to awake mode, which looks like nothing we ever saw before coming from Microsoft.
Other highlights of the supposedly Microsoft Windows Mobile 7 include: a gesture to dismiss an on-screen notification by shaking it off the screen, a gesture to automatically take you to a Smart Search notification panel, turning the phone like turning a key to unlock it, pivoting by gesturing the phone sideways, moving through lists by shaking the phone up or down, switching the camera into black and white or other modes by shaking it down, adjusting the camera aperture and shutter speed by rotating the camera, sending a file by "tossing" it to another device. These seem to be listed as "exploration" by the leaked document, so they may or may not be actually integrated in the final version of the operating system.
For more in-depth coverage of the subject please see Nathan Weinberg's original post on blognewschannel.
Source: Softpedia
GNOME 2.22: A Truly Amazing Desktop!
Every six months, the GNOME team prepares a new and revolutionary release of the ever popular GNOME desktop environment. Today, we are proud to introduce you to the latest and greatest features of an 100% FREE and open source desktop. Whether you are on a Solaris machine or the latest Ubuntu distribution, GNOME is there and with every new release it makes your life... Simply Beautiful!
Let's have a look at the new features of GNOME 2.22:
The Cheese software - a brand new application designed to "take care" of your webcam. It allows you to make photos and record videos using your little... webcam! Say... cheese!
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| image courtesy of the GNOME Project |
Window Compositing - a brand new technology introduced in GNOME 2.22, which will offer drop shadows on windows, live previews when hitting the Alt+Tab key combination and some very nice transparency effect. All this, without Compiz!
DVD or DVB? - why not both?! Because, starting with the 2.22 edition of the GNOME desktop, Totem will have improved support for DVD playback and digital television (DVB). Moreover, support for the popular MythTV and the Youtube service is also present in GNOME's Movie Player.
GVFS - this new network-transparent virtual filesystem layer for GTK+ is here to make your desktop sessions much pleasant. How? Why? Well, for example: do you remember that simple file transfer/copy/move window that appears (yes! the one with the progress bar and remaining time)... well, because of GVFS, it's now able to show you more than a progress bar! It can also remember the login credentials and be more resilient to failures! But wait, that's not all, as with this technology, all GNOME users will have access to new protocols, such as: cdda:// (used to show the audio tracks of an inserted Audio-CD), gphoto2:// (used to access a connected digital camera's photos).
International Clock - a new function "injected" into the clock applet, which can display multiple timezones from around the world!
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| image courtesy of the GNOME Project |
More Evolution Improvements - with the amazing Google Calendar support and custom message labels (tagging) for your emails, better spam filtering and making error dialogs less intrusive on your desktop session by using the status bar rather than popups!
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| image courtesy of the GNOME Project |
Remote Desktop Viewer - yet another new application that can be found in the 2.22 edition of the GNOME desktop. It complements the existing remote desktop server support and has the ability to discover computers on your LAN (local area network) and bookmark them! Isn't that cool?
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| image courtesy of the GNOME Project |
Simplified Keyboard Settings - with the redesigned "Keyboard Preferences" window, which now combines the old "Keyboard Layout" and "Keyboard Accessibility Preferences" dialogs. All the keyboard settings in one place... yeah baby!
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| image courtesy of the GNOME Project |
Other noticeable features that can be found in GNOME 2.22 are:
• magnification and screenreading improvements;
• new mouse accessibility features;
• PolicyKit integration;
• better system tools;
• you are now able to directly open Evolution contacts in Deskbar;
• Gedit, the GNOME's text editor receives printing improvements;
• The Chess game has now network multiplayer support;
• Epiphany brings you download notifications;
• The Archive Manager tool received LZMA (7-zip) support;
• inhibit automatic hibernation and suspend while burning CDs;
• Evince, the document viewer, is now much faster, uses less memory and it's able to support page transitions in PDF slideshows;
• Tomboy is able to organize your notes into notebooks from now on;
• Sound Juicer supports more metadata, including disc number and year;
• extensive improvements to Calculator's precision and usability;
• Seahorse is the new sheriff in town, as it completely replaced Keyring Manager.
Source: Softpedia
Nokia Morph
A new Nokia Mobile Phone that uses nano Technology. It can be charged by solar energy. you can wear it as a watch, It's a touch screen Mobile. Watch this great video. I wish you enjoy it and I am waiting for your commands.
Yahoo! Expands Yahoo! Video
A week after introducing their new Lifecasting streaming service, Y Live, and a matter of days after buying video advertising firm, Maven, Yahoo continues to expand their online video offerings by rolling out a brand new version of Yahoo Video. Among the site's new features is a wider screen. The new Yahoo! Video supports a 16:9 player that's "far ahead of what most sites are offering," according to Yahoo. The site has upped its capacity, as well; filmmakers can now upload videos up to 150 MB. Yahoo Video's content has also been expanded, featuring videos on topics including music, movies, TV, news, and sports.
Taking a cue from Google-owned YouTube, Yahoo Video is also expanding its sharing options, letting users embed videos in their blogs and Websites. Users can also create and embed video playlists.
On the social side of things, Yahoo Video is seeking to expand its community by adding more in-depth profiles, letting users create nicknames, design user playlists, add contacts, and leave comments.
According to a post of Yahoo's Video Blog, the site will be rolling out even more features in the near future.
Source: PC Magazine
Apple Mac mini (2-GHz Core 2 Duo)
The Apple Mac mini has been around in one form or another for almost three years, and while the internal components have changed, the general concept and overall design has stayed the same. Pricing starts at $599, but the one we looked at is the upgraded 2-GHz $799 model. It's one of the forerunners of the green PC, having gone through several generations of substituting energy-efficient notebook-class components for desktop parts since the G4-powered Mac minis of early 2005. The Mac mini has been the lower-priced, entry-level Mac, but now that it's equipped with the Core 2 Duo processors, it is as powerful as a larger desktop while retaining its power (and space) savings. The Apple Mac mini appeals to both space-constrained and green-thinking PC users.
Like most Apple systems the mini is quiet, with almost no fan noise. (You have to stick your ear next to the mini to hear the hard drive working.). It does still use an external power brick, but now that's a plus instead of a hindrance. That's because the brick is more efficient than some internal power supplies, particularly when the system is sleeping or idle. This Mac mini is both Energy Star 4.0 and EPEAT Silver certified, so it will serve you well while making a minimal impact on the environment (though it's not quite the virtue generator that a Toyota Prius would be). Your power bills will be lower, and since the mini is physically such a small system, the impact when you recycle it will be smaller as well. According to EPEAT reporting, the mini is 90 percent recyclable (65 percent is the minimum needed to get any sort of EPEAT certification). Other components, like the 2.5-inch notebook-class hard drive and integrated graphics, help you cut down on power use in the long run.
Alas, the Mac mini's performance on the benchmark tests was unimpressive. The Mac mini failed to run 3DMark06 while under Vista via Boot Camp, though its Windows Media Encoder scores were respectable: 1 minute 32 seconds (less than 2 minutes is considered very good). Its Photoshop scores were okay but not great: a slow 2 minutes flat on Photoshop CS2 can be attributed to the systems' relatively meager 1GB of memory (we recommend 2GB). The time improved to 1:10 when I upgraded to Photoshop CS3, which is Intel-optimized in Mac OS X. For thoroughness, I tested CS2 (2:22) and CS3 (1:03) under Windows Vista as well. Again, good but not great. It is notable that at least for Photoshop CS3, the Mac mini makes a really good Vista PC.
Compared with systems like the HP Slimline 3200 series, the Mac mini is much smaller and has the benefit of being both a Mac OS X and a Windows PC. The HP Pavilion Slimline s3020n PC does have larger hard drives, optional internal TV tuners, and also works with MCE extenders like the Xbox 360. Look for more compact systems to start muscling in on the Mac mini's turf as 2008 unfolds.
The Apple Mac mini continues to be an energy-efficient computer as well as a design statement. It's an attractive alternative to Windows Vista PCs, even those with small form factors, since it's a visual, technological, and spiritual match for the iPods in millions of pockets worldwide. It's worth putting on your short list.
Source: PC Magazine
Microsoft Releases Four Critical Office Updates
Microsoft released today four security bulletins describing vulnerabilities in various versions of Office and ancillary products, and issued updates to address them. All four updates are termed critical.
The most serious of the four—MS08-015—is titled Vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook Could Allow Remote Code Execution. The flaw is in Outlook's handling of mailto: links, which are HTML links meant to initiate an e-mail session. The user would have to click on a maliciously-crafted link in an Outlook HTML e-mail or in a browser.
Exploitation would allow remote code execution in the context of the logged-in user; the usual protection provided by running HTML e-mail in the Restricted zone does no good in this case, as mailto: links are permitted there, but it is true that these links cannot be made to execute without the user clicking on them.
Almost all supported versions of Outlook are affected, including Office 2000 Service Pack 3, Office XP Service Pack 3, Office 2003 Service Packs 2 and 3, and Office 2007 with no service pack. Office 2007 with Service Pack 1 installed is not affected, indicating that Microsoft silently patched this bug in that service pack. There is no indication that Outlook Express or the Vista Windows Mail program are affected by this vulnerability.
Source: PC Magazine
Internet Explorer 8 Goes a Different Way
Microsoft displays new and welcome restraint in its latest browser beta.
I'm not bowled over by Microsoft's new beta of Internet Explorer 8. First of all, it looks almost exactly the same as Internet Explorer 7.0 (IE7), which was arguably one of the most significant updates in the browser's roughly 12-year history. The tabs, address bar, Favorites and Home buttons, and RSS and other links are all in the same places as they were in IE7 and appear little changed. Microsoft says that many of the forward-facing consumer features aren't active in this beta. Maybe they'll make a bigger impression. For now, however, I contend that it would be more accurate to call this release IE 7.5.
That said, all in all, I'm pleased.
Last year, Microsoft overhauled the interfaces in its tent pole products—Office, IE, and Vista. This time around, the company seems content with taking a measured approach, one that's clearly more focused on what's inside the browser than on what's on the outside.
It took me a while to get used to the IE7 interface. I loved the tabs and knew how to work with them, thanks to Firefox. I hated that Home, Refresh, and Stop had been separated, and I had hoped that Microsoft would consider reuniting them. By now, though, I've grown accustomed to IE7's quirks. I've even embraced some, particularly the Favorites panel, which drops down over the left-hand side of your page and allows you to navigate easily through and find all of your stored links, even if they're nested deep inside multiple folders. The RSS button on the main toolbar is a handy feature, but I often wonder if consumers miss it because there's no label.
I decided to hop on the beta bandwagon early, because I was actually having some trouble with IE7. It's been my experience that software updates often automatically fix major problems without much user intervention.
For weeks I'd been running IE7 without add-ons. It's easy to do: You simply right-click on the IE desktop icon and select Start Without Add-ons. This loads IE as fresh and new as the day you first installed it. This action was necessary because IE had been crashing a lot—often when I was scrolling up or down on a Web page, but not always. Sometimes, I just clicked in the wrong place and the browser would freeze. I noted that, at one point, a reader had a similar problem, and our software expert, Neil J. Rubenking, suggested that an add-on-free load might get around the problem.
An add-on-free IE7 worked like a charm for me, except when I wanted to do things like view Flash video. As a result, I began using Firefox as my primary browser. I like Firefox, but it has its own interface quirks, and with enough tabs running, it's as much of a resource hog as IE.
Still, I have a soft spot in my heart for IE (I had used it almost exclusively since giving up Netscape Navigator), so I jumped at the chance to install the IE8 Beta. I has high hopes that the add-on problem would be fixed. After install, however, IE8 crashed faster than IE7. I guess that's progress. Still, it's a beta, so I wasn't all that surprised. After a couple more attempts, I loaded IE8 just as I had IE7—without add-ons. Once I got the browser working, I was able to do what I should have done with IE7. I opened Internet Options, navigated to the Programs tab, and selected Manage Add-ons. Then I disabled different ones until I found the culprit—Skype. With that turned off, IE8 launched without a hitch.
There are a couple of minor interface changes I've noticed in IE8. The Panning Hand, which lets you grab and drag the page up and down, is gone. Help shows up on the main feature bar (IE7 defaults to hiding it behind a main menu bar drop-down). Under Help, you'll find the familiar About IE window, but with a nifty added addition: System Info…. Hit the button and you'll get a complete accounting of your system hardware, components, drivers, Internet settings, Office apps installed, and more. I hope this isn't just another beta feature, because I love it. IE8 also adds an Emulate IE7 button. This may only be a stop-gap beta feature, but in any case, it's kind of laughable, since there are few major differences between versions.
There is one other interesting change that has nothing to do with functionality but could indicate a little bit of a branding shift: The icon next to Microsoft-specific shortcuts, which include Free Hotmail (why not Live mail?) and Windows, is an "M" that looks like the first letter in the Microsoft logo. This is not a new style for Microsoft, but I've never seen the company use the single letter in quite this way. Watch for more branding like this in other Microsoft products.
Web Slices, another new feature in the beta, lets you subscribe to content within a page, though it doesn't appear functional in this beta. It's an intriguing idea with a decent name, but my guess is that few people will use it.
I like that the focus of this update is simplification and shortcuts. Making it possible to access Activities (e-mail, blogging, translating, and, it seems, dozens of others) with a simple right click and with no cutting and pasting is not huge change, but it's a smart one.
Using an early beta that works this well (yes, it has crashed, but such is the price of beta use) and seems so familiar is oddly comforting. I wonder, now, if Microsoft might finally be getting the idea that less is more. If that's the case, it could bode well for Windows 7.
Source: PC Magazine
Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 released, this time for real
By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews
A few days after an unusual false start, during which testers at a virtual worldwide party made do with a release candidate, Mozilla gives the public its next taste of what's coming in Firefox.
BetaNews FileForum has posted Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 this morning, and the good news is, it's still there.
Last week, the link went live for Beta 4, but FileForum users and testers immediately noticed upon installation the prominent message, "This is not Firefox 3.0 Beta 4." It was a version of the message Mozilla typically posts as the default newcomer's page for release candidate installations; and in Mozilla's testing procedure, there are "private" RCs prior to the release of public betas.That RC happened to be surprisingly stable in BetaNews tests, and thus far this morning, the real Beta 4 is showing off its skills remarkably well -- though we've yet to put it through its full paces. In an effort to give the browser something more of an IE7 "trademark" appearance, new testers will be surprised to find the extra large Back button within an inset, beveled housing, in the new default theme. The Home button, meanwhile, has moved to the left side of the Bookmarks Toolbar, though it is not a shortcut like the other entries there, and cannot (easily) be removed.
In BetaNews testing, Beta 4 passed the Acid2 test from the Web Standards Project splendidly and quickly, with no obvious errors. Of course, last week, the WSP raised the bar on standards compliance with its Acid3 test, for which our Beta 4 scored a 67/100. (You can tell Beta 4 wasn't perfect in this picture, because the queued-up boxes should be in color.) That score is actually quite impressive, and the highest we've seen from Mozilla since Acid3's release...especially compared with IE8 Beta 1, which scored for us a measly 17/100.
BetaNews' test environment is Windows Vista Ultimate running in a Microsoft Virtual PC environment, on a Windows XP-based PC with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.
One new feature we noted for Beta 4 right away is full zoom, which is a big step up from the "Text Size" menu in Firefox 2. This feature is not only capable of stepping up or down text size in magnification increments of 10%, but scaling graphics to fit as well. The graphics scaling also appears to work perfectly for Flash-based ads and Flash videos, whose frames scale up to match the current frame resolution.
IE8 Beta 1 also boasts a similar feature, and we've noted that Firefox 3 Beta 4 omits the "thumb" slider along the bottom for live scaling. Firefox's status bar is often reserved for use by its add-ons, though for now, fairly quick scaling can be achieved by pressing Ctrl-+ and Ctrl-[minus].
Windows 7 (Vienna)
Windows 7 (formerly known as Blackcomb and Vienna) is the working name for the next major version of Microsoft Windows as the successor of Windows Vista. Microsoft has announced that it is "scoping Windows 7 development to a three-year timeframe", and that "the specific release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar." The client versions of Windows 7 will ship in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. A server variant, codenamed Windows Server 7, is also under development.
Microsoft is maintaining a policy of silence concerning discussion of plans and aspirations for Windows 7 as they focus on the release and marketing of Windows Vista, stating that Microsoft doesn't want to promise features and then fail to deliver, though some early details of various core operating system features have emerged. As a result, little is known about the feature set, though public presentations from company officials have disseminated information about some features. Leaked information from people to whom Milestone 1 (M1) of Windows 7 was shipped also provide some insight into the feature set.
History
Circa 2000, Windows XP and its server counterpart Windows Server 2003 (codenamed Whistler) were planned to be followed-up by a major release of Windows that was codenamed Blackcomb (both codenames refer to the Whistler-Blackcomb resort) and scheduled for a 2005 release. Major features were planned for Blackcomb, including an emphasis on searching and querying data and an advanced storage system named WinFS to enable such scenarios. In this context, a feature mentioned by Bill Gates for Blackcomb was "a pervasive typing line that will recognize the sentence that [the user is] typing in."
Later Blackcomb was delayed and an interim minor release, codenamed "Longhorn", was announced for a 2003 release. By the middle of 2003, however, Longhorn had acquired some of the features originally intended for Blackcomb, including WinFS, the Desktop Window Manager, and new versions of system components built on the .NET Framework. After the Summer of Worms, where three major viruses exploited flaws in Windows operating systems within a short time period, Microsoft changed their development priorities, putting some of Longhorn's major development work on hold while new service packs for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 that included a number of new security and safety features. Development of Windows Vista was also "reset" in September 2004 as a result of concerns about the quality of code that was being introduced to the operating system. The eventual result of this was that WinFS, the Next Generation Secure Computing Base, and other features seen in Longhorn builds were deemed "not ready" for wide release, and as such did not appear in Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008.
As major feature work on Windows Vista wound down in early 2006, Blackcomb was renamed Vienna. However, following the release of Windows Vista, it was confirmed by Microsoft on July 20, 2007 that "the internal name for the next version of the Windows Client OS" is Windows 7, a name that had been reported by some sources months before.
Focus
Microsoft's Ben Fathi claimed on February 9, 2007 that the focus on the operating system was still being worked out, and could merely hint at some possibilities: We're going to look at a fundamental piece of enabling technology. Maybe it's hypervisors. I don't know what it is" [...] "Maybe it's a new user interface paradigm for consumers.
Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric." When asked to clarify what he meant, Gates said: That means that right now when you move from one PC to another, you've got to install apps on each one, do upgrades on each one. Moving information between them is very painful. We can use Live Services to know what you're interested in. So even if you drop by a [public] kiosk or somebody else's PC, we can bring down your home page, your files, your fonts, your favorites and those things. So that's kind of the user-centric thing that Live Services can enable. [Also,] in Vista, things got a lot better with [digital] ink and speech, but by the next release there will be a much bigger bet. Students won't need textbooks; they can just use these tablet devices. Parallel computing is pretty important for the next release. We'll make it so that a lot of the high-level graphics will be just built into the operating system. So we've got a pretty good outline.
Milestone 1
The first known build of Windows 7 was identified as a "Milestone 1 (M1) code drop" according to TG Daily with a version number of 6.1.6519.1. It was sent to key Microsoft partners by January 2008 in both x86 and x64 versions. Though not yet commented on by Microsoft, reviews and screenshots have been published by various sources. The M1 code drop installation requires Windows Vista with Service Pack 1, and creates a dual-boot system with Windows Vista.
Later builds
According to TG Daily, the Milestone 2 (M2) code drop is scheduled for April or May 2008. UI changes are expected to appear in later builds of Windows 7. Milestone 3 (M3) is listed as coming in the third quarter, with the release to manufacturing in the second half of 2009. The release dates of a beta version and a release candidate are "to be determined".
Features
Windows 7 has reached the Milestone 1 (M1) stage and has been made available to key partners. According to reports sent to TG Daily, the build adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards and a new version of Windows Media Center. New features in Milestone 1 also reportedly include Gadgets being integrated into Windows Explorer, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, the ability to visually pin and unpin items from the Start Menu and Recycle Bin, improved media features, a new XPS Viewer, and the Calculator accessory featuring Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion.
Reports indictate that a feedback tool included in Milestone 1 lists some coming features: the ability to store Internet Explorer settings on a Windows Live account, updated versions of Paint and WordPad, and a 10 minute install process. In addition, improved network connection tools might be included.
MinWin
A minimalistic variation of the Windows kernel, known as MinWin, is being developed for use in Windows 7. The MinWin development efforts are aimed towards componentizing the Windows kernel and reducing the dependencies with a view to carving out the minimal set of components required to build a self-contained kernel as well as reducing the disk footprint and memory usage. MinWin takes up about 25 MB on disk and has a working set (memory usage) of 40 MB. It lacks a graphical user interface and is interfaced using a full-screen command line interface. It includes the I/O and networking subsystems. MinWin was first publicly demonstrated on October 13, 2007 by Eric Traut. The demo system included an OS image, made up of about 100 files, on which a basic HTTP server was running.
Incidentally, the name MinWin was also used earlier to refer to what is currently known as Server Core in Windows Server 2008. However, the two are quite different. While both efforts are to consolidate and componentize the core of Windows, with server core, the functionality of the OS is constrained according to server roles, and unneeded components (which will never be used as the role isn't supported) are removed from the binary image. However, the dependencies still exist in code, and the code cannot compile without the components. In contrast, with MinWin, the dependencies are consolidated into MinWin and what is not needed is removed at the code level itself. As a result, the code compiles even without any extraneous components and builds a stripped-down self-contained OS kernel image.
Methods of input
On December 11, 2007, Hilton Locke, who worked on the Tablet PC team at Microsoft reported that Windows 7 will have new touch features.
| I will say that if you are impressed by the "touch features" in the iPhone, you'll be blown away by what's coming in Windows 7. Now if only we could convince more OEMs that Windows Touch Technology is going to drive their sales. |
Also, Bill Gates has said that Windows 7 is also "a big step forward" for speech technology and handwriting recognition
Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia
The Search for the Killer iPhone App
Many developers are hard at work building tools for Apple's popular phone, despite what some consider limits on their ability to collaborate
Executives at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers had a running bet as they announced a $100 million fund to encourage developers to build tools for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone. The wager was over how many business plans they'd receive in the first 30 days after the Mar. 6 announcement. Kleiner Perkins partner Matt Murphy won't divulge the number, but says it was exceeded within 36 hours.
So great is the interest among developers in creating a software-based tool, or application, for Apple's popular iPhone or iPod Touch that on the same day Apple announced the release of the software developer's kit, or SDK, Apple's Web site crashed. Many developers resorted to grabbing the file using BitTorrent file-sharing technology.
Nondisclosure agreement
At stake not only is a slice of funding from storied Kleiner Perkins, an early investor in such companies as Amazon (AMZN), Genentech (DNA), and Sun Microsystems (JAVA), but potential bragging rights to building the next killer app for the iPhone. Programmers are generally pleased with the kit, but many are already running up against a lack of guidance from Apple on thorny questions, as well as limits on their ability to compare notes with other developers.
Craig Hockenberry is a principal at developer Iconfactory who hopes to create a tool that would make it easier for iPhone users to use microblogging site Twitter. "They've done an absolutely fantastic job," Hockenberry says of Apple. "The problem that Apple has right now is, there's too much interest in the iPhone SDK." Several iPhone developers contacted by BusinessWeek.com say they've already sent Apple questions or reported concerns via phone or e-mail. Most don't expect to get a response back for several weeks. The company didn't respond to repeated requests for comment on this story.
Many programmers feel inhibited from turning to one another for help because of the confidentiality agreement they need to sign before downloading the free kit. Among the stipulations in the 2,700-word document: "You agree not to disclose, publish, or disseminate any confidential information to anyone other than to other registered iPhone developers" who work for the same firm. The restriction hasn't stopped some developers from using public forums to answer each other's questions—though it has given some pause. "Apple considers the SDK to be covered under an NDA [nondisclosure agreement] by developers," wrote a participant in a discussion on Apple's site who identified himself as Scott. "They don't want people discussing it."
Fat Fund
Apple is not the only company to impose NDAs on developers, notes Richard Doherty, director of consultancy Envisioneering Group. Yet the cell-phone software disseminated by Google (GOOG) contains language that appears to be less restrictive than Apple's.
Erica Sadun had hoped to publish a book on the iPhone SDK within days of the publication of the beta, or test, version. Now she's concerned she'll have to wait until June, when the kit is released officially. "Apple is not clarifying what comes under the NDA," she says. She's particularly leery of language like this: "You agree not to use Confidential Information in any way, including, without limitation, for your own or any third party's benefit without the prior written approval of an authorized representative of Apple in each instance."
Meantime, programmers are muddling through. Chris Sloop is chief technology officer at WeatherBug, which provides weather updates to cell-phone users. He wants to know whether the iPhone will eventually be able to run several applications simultaneously, something the device can't do today. That would enable WeatherBug, for example, to send an inclement weather alert while also providing alternate travel routes.
When Sloop and others like him come up with their cool new features, they may find a ready reception at Kleiner Perkins, which views the iPhone as more than just another cell-phone software platform competing with Nokia-led Symbian, Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile, and various flavors of mobile Linux. "Amazon, eBay, Netscape, Google—we'd like to find the peer group of those companies on the mobile Internet," says Murphy, who says his fund could swell to more than $100 million. "A lot of the pillars, foundational applications for the mobile Internet, will grow up on the iPhone." Doherty believes that rivals Nokia (NOK) and Google might start similar funds, encouraging application innovation for their cell phones and software.
Plenty of Ideas
Indeed, several developers are pressing ahead, seemingly undeterred by disclosure restrictions. "We are really trying to think big thoughts about what's the right advertising solution for the iPhone," says John SanGiovanni, founder of Seattle-based Zumobi, a Microsoft spin-off that lets advertisers publish mobile widgets offering snippets of content as well as ads. Today's mobile ads tend to consist of boring text messages or unattractive banners; SanGiovanni wants to make mobile advertising more interactive. After all, the new kit lets programmers tie their software to iPhone hardware, such as its accelerometer, a feature that could, potentially, gift the iPhone with capabilities of Nintendo's Wii: Users might be able to "play" through ads by waving their phones around.
Another startup, Jajah, plans to take advantage of the access Apple provides to the iPhone's microphone, speakers, and a Wi-Fi wireless broadband connection to build a highly capable Web-calling application. The application would allow frequent travelers to place calls via airport and coffee shop Wi-Fi and avoid expensive international roaming, which has left many an iPhone owner with a hefty wireless bill. This software would also allow users to look up phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and schedules of contacts from a corporate Microsoft Exchange address book. "If things like this are available, companies will give employees a choice of an iPhone vs. the BlackBerry," says Frederik Hermann, director of global marketing at Jajah.
And even those awaiting guidance, Hockenberry says, are confident Apple will lend a hand eventually.
Source: Business Week
Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 8 beta Edition
Microsoft releases the first beta edition of Internet Explorer 8 on Wednesday the 5th of March 2008 for developers and web designers for testing proposes. It is available for download on this site
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/default.mspx
YouTube rival Hulu debuts with lineup of TV shows, movies and sports
Hulu LLC, a joint online video project of NBC Universal Inc. and News Corp., is set to go live Wednesday with programming from Time Warner Inc.'s television group, Lions Gate Entertainment and sports groups. A beta version of the site was launched in October.Hulu, described as a YouTube rival, will offer full-length episodes from more than 250 televisions series, including The Simpsons and Buffy the Vampire Slayer along with more than 100 movies, according to a report from Reuters. Hulu has also signed video licensing deals with the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League, Reuters said.
A spokesman from NBC Universal parent company General Electric Co. did not return a call requesting comment on Hulu.
Liz Cannes, a blogger for NewTeeVee, noted that Hulu is reporting an audience of 5 million viewers on the site in the past 30 days, which she described as "pretty insane for a semiprivate beta."
Cannes added that the site's viewing experience has improved since the beta program started by instituting full seasons of some current shows and movies supported by trailers rather than interrupting ads.
"We'll be watching to see if it can hit the mainstream," Cannes noted. "We know some 16% of American Internet households are watching TV online already. Streaming Web video is never going to be the be-all and end-all, but as a happy Hulu beta tester, I would bet it's gonna be big."
Paul Glazowski, a blogger at Mashable.com, noted that he expects ABC and CBS to join the effort at some point, "which would undoubtedly offer considerably more weight to Hulu's long-term business prospects."
"Though (ABC and CBS) both presently operate stand-alone video portals of their own, there's little reason to suspect that a partial migration to Hulu will occur," he said.
"Web video, despite its fresh-faced allure and burgeoning consumer demand, is one that is for the most part unprofitable for large networks now. Web advertising prices don't yet amount to a valuation that can be considered amply supplemental to the networks' present-day income. The tried-and-true standard broadcast and cable television mediums are by far the cash kinds of television at the moment," he added.
Therefore, he said, the more viewers the networks can reach online to generate more ad revenue, the better. The best way to reach more viewers online would be to participate in a concentrated effort like Hulu backed industrywide, he noted.
Source:Computerworld
